The Tallahassee City Commission voted unanimously to formally terminate the city’s sister city relationship with Krasnodar, Russia at Wednesday’s Commission meeting. Mayor John Dailey announced in a tweet last week that he would add this issue to the meeting’s agenda to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine. The relationship between the two cities began in 1983 but has been mostly symbolic in recent years.
Commissioner Jeremy Matlow agreed with Mayor John Dailey that ending this relationship shows they are standing in solidarity with Ukraine, not alienating the citizens of Krasnodar. Matlow also suggested that the city explore further action to address Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I do think we should look at what other steps we can take,” said Matlow during the meeting. “How we can open up our community to Ukrainian refugees. How we can look at the gas price issue in the room from a different angle—how we can expedite moving away from fossil fuels, so as a city we can really become independent of that.”
Before the vote, Mayor Pro-Tem Curtis Richardson added an amendment to the motion, suggesting that in the coming days, the lights on the Cascades Park bridge be lit up blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
Tallahassee still has official sister city relationships with five other cities: Sligo, Ireland, St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, Konongo-Odumasi, Ghana, Ramat-Hasharon, Israel, and Rugao, China.
